Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Date of Award

8-2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Martha May Tevis

Second Advisor

Dr. Anita Pankake

Third Advisor

Dr. Miguel De Los Santos

Abstract

The decision of Brown v. Board of Education to desegregate schools in the United States fifty-two years ago was approached with hesitation by many school districts. For half of those fifty-two years, school desegregation proceeded at a snail's pace in southern and northern school districts as civil rights lawyers waged trench warfare in federal courts. Even though it was "law," many school districts ignored the mandate or suffered from the "with all deliberate speed" syndrome. The focus of this study was to investigate the educational segregation and desegregation of students in the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District (ECISD).

In this historical study of the impact of Brown v. Board of Education on public education in Edinburg, Texas, the researcher sought answers to the following research questions: (1) what were the roles of the Anglos, Mexican and African Americans in the development of education in the Edinburg schools; (2) how long it took the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District to integrate their students following the Brown decision; (3) how did segregation and desegregation shape the attitudes of the students, educators, school board members and community leaders, and (4) what influence did the state education agency have on the Edinburg school desegregation plan?

The data from this study were obtained from a focus group, 53 questionnaires, individual in-depth interviews, photographs and archival documents (Edinburg CISD Board Minutes) and the City of Edinburg. Collectively the data were used to triangulate and create a socially co-constructed view of reality as seen by the students, teachers, administrators, school board members and the community over a thirty-five year period.

Key findings included (1) in the 1940s and early 1950s, the Edinburg school district provided unequal distribution of educational opportunities for their Anglo and Mexican American students while denying secondary education for their African American children; (2) despite the mandate of Brown v. Board of Education of 1954 and 1955, the Edinburg CISD School Board and the community it represented failed to comply with the national mandate of Brown. The Edinburg CISD avoided the desegregation of their Black elementary students until 1962. The Mexican American students were segregated based on language. All "Spanish speaking" Mexican American students were tracked and put into the same school until the late 1960s; (3) the Brown decision generated several legal cases that resulted in Mexican Americans being recognized as a distinct minority group and no longer the "other White." and (4) many federal and state educational mandates were created and funded that required local school districts to develop and implement relevant programs for ethnic minorities. Edinburg CISD, specifically used the funds to create and develop special programs to meet the needs of their students, especially the English language learners.

Comments

Copyright 2006 Beverly F. Ashley-Fridie. All Rights Reserved.

Posted with Permission from Author.

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/utrgv.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/another-shade-brown-historical-study-v-board/docview/304913081/se-2?accountid=7119

Granting Institution

University of Texas-Pan American

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